Undying Wills
(Yes, I am sleep deprived. No, I'm not gonna stop. Guest appearance from a friend's character, hope to see them more. Enjoy.)
It was all a blur. A big fuzzy blur that just meshed badly. One second they were falling and the next they weren't. That wasn't normal but for the life of him he couldn't remember why. Then everything started to feel… warm? Actually no, things were feeling hot. Like… really hot! His eyes opened slowly and it was bright, almost like the sun came up while he was out… but it was just the buildings being on fire- Wait a second that didn't sound right.
Tanjiro slowly took in his surroundings and saw that everything around them was in a violent blaze, the entire street was decorated with burning brothels and scattered planks of wood. 'What… happened? It was just-" Everything started coming back to him. The fire… Inosuke! Uzui! Everything that happened just crashed back into his mind full force. "Nezuko!" He looked over and saw his sister sleeping so comfortably. "Thank you Nezuko… For everything you did to help."
"Tanjiro…" Wait! He's awake too! Jikon was just a few feet away and pushing wood off his legs. "I'm glad you're okay…" His sword was in his left hand and he got up to one knee, but his body was looking awful with all those sickly purple splotches on his skin.
"Jikon! You shouldn't be worrying about me, that poison is still in you!" He saw the veins starting to bulge out on his friend's face but his concerns were softened by Jikon's smirk. There wasn't any reason to be smirking if he was poisoned… right?
"It looks worse than it is." He lifted his left hand and saw that a lot of the skin was purple, and capillaries were engorged from the concoction flowing in him. "Shinobu helped me get a little resistant to poison, at least ones that demons might make… Remember when I came back from that mission all twitchy?"
He did remember that. Jikon did not look like he was enjoying the sudden movements he was making that morning, and worse off was that he nearly hit some people when the spasms happened. "Yeah."
"Well it was because I got poisoned. Since then she helped me put a special mix into my body that would help break down poisons from demons." He clenched his fist twice and laughed. "But I don't think it was ready to use against an Upper-"
"Well I'm impressed!" Oh no. The two Slayers put their eyes front and saw Gyutaro standing there scratching his forehead. "I'm really shocked the two of you are perfectly alive after that…" They tensed up once they saw both him in front of them, and his sister sitting on a rooftop in front of them. "Well, not like you two have much else going for you other than luck really. It's a shame really…" His warping voice turned into a snake like hiss. "Every one of your little friends is either dead or underneath rubble now!"
The sound of footsteps… delayed footsteps. "You really thought… I'd die from losing one heart?!" Carmen?! One of her legs was missing a foot but- but there was some kind of blood mist and fire making a fake replacement! The same for her missing hand, but her wings were gone.
"And would you look at that? The odds really weren't with you guys, huh?" He looked at Inosuke's bleeding body. "It took one hit to the boar's heart to kill him…" Then there was Zenitsu reaching out to his sword under burning rubble. "Meanwhile the yellow haired one is stuck underneath that rubble… wriggling around like a worm. I'll leave him there to die." He looked around before shrugging his emaciated shoulders. "I don't even know where that bear girl went, but since she took all those rotating circular slashes head on- I can't imagine she's alive!" Then there were Tengen and Haia's mangled bodies. "And then that Hashira… all bark and no bite. Once I took his arm off he crumpled from the poison, and the demon girl ran out of energy right then too… I diced her up into pieces then and there."
'Th- That- Fuck!' Jikon was gripping the soil hard but he couldn't find it in himself to do anything from there. He glanced at Tanjiro and saw him in the same situation! The both of them were so angry but… what could they really do now?! Gyutaro, his sister, and Carmen! Even if the latter was weakened the other two weren't!
"Each of you, pathetic in your own ways!" He was scratching his face again. "But really I can't see any reason that you two aren't the worst! There… in that box… she's a relative of yours isn't she? I can tell you're related even if she's a demon. Tell me… is she your sister?"
Tanjiro was gasping for air, arms numb, and all the while he was trying to figure this out. 'Why hasn't he killed us? He could right now… I can't lift my sword, my hands are too numb. All I can do… is play at his game.' He focused himself, and decided to answer. "She's my younger sister…"
Gyutaro started laughing in his hand but it wasn't done. "And you… handsome little hashira… that guy who wanted to blood battle me, he's related to you isn't he? What is he? A cousin or something?"
Now Jikon was under the spotlight. This grotesque demon interrogating him for whatever reason. 'He could finish us right now. But he's not… why? Why would he ask us about our families? There's no reason…' All he could do was gulp and answer. "He's my older brother…"
Now if Gyutaro was laughing before, he was outright guffawing. "Your brother, I didn't expect that! I knew you were related to him somehow!" His sharp toothed smile was taunting them. "Imagine that! So useless that you can't protect your younger siblings!"
"What…"
He ignored Jikon and knelt down to plant his sickles into the dirt. "I guess it can't be helped in your case, your sister's a demon after all. It makes sense that you're weaker than she is. But you, your brother couldn't even protect you… he didn't even try! Here you are battered and beaten, and he had the nerve to die from some idiot's poison bullets."
They both watched as bony hands grabbed theirs firmly. 'Wha-' Then Gyutaro broke some fingers and a wrist with a quick squeeze and pull! "Gng!" Tanjiro curled over once he felt his fingers snap all over, and Jikon's left wrist collapsing definitely didn't feel any better.
Now Gyutaro was hitting their heads over and over as they tried not to cry out from the pain. "But I really wanna know how you both feel! Being the only ones alive after surviving so disgracefully! Not to mention that your siblings used all their strength to protect weaklings like you!" He grabbed their hair and started shaking the both of them back and forwards. "Hey, answer me, worm. Imbecile. Trash. Sad sack. Coward among dunces. Good for nothing! Why were two pieces of shit like you both born anyway, huh? What are you gonna do?"
Tanjiro's mangled fingers pressed into a bag of incense and Jikon's uninjured hand clenched tight.
"With your weak sauce, battered human bodies, and cowardly ways… I wanna see either of you try and cut off my head, come on and try! Try! Try! Come on!"
Neither of them moved a muscle. At least not from their spots. The smell of incense from a prostitute filled the air and Gyutaro was smiling, waiting for either of them to even attempt taking his head off… but it didn't come. "Just like I thought, right when I thought neither of you could get more pathetic! In all my life, I've never seen anyone as shameless or cowardly as you two…"
"S-Shut up!" That attitude got Jikon kicked in the gut, and now he was struggling to get air into his body. 'Shit!' Felt like his body was trying to throw up from the shock alone. Then Gyutaro gave Tanjiro a downward hit that pushed him into the dirt, coughing up earth.
"But as disgraceful as you both are, I can't really hate you… even you, little hashira. Maybe you're not as cool as the other guy after all, I like things that are pathetic and filthy." He started rubbing the red marking on Tanjiro's forehead with his thumb. "Maybe this dirty scar on your face is making me attached… I'VE GOT IT!" He sat straight up with a smile on his face.
The two boys had a good feeling that they wouldn't like where this was going.
"Why don't you both become demons?! I've got enough strength to turn someone as weak as you both into demons right now! Yeah! Yeah! That's a great idea I just had!" He slashed those nails across his still closed eye and lifted his arms up in cheer. "I'll spare your lives if you both become demons! Cause then we'll all be friends!" He got right in their faces with the next part. "Otherwise I'll kill you, your sister, and you little hashira. I don't give a damn about most people to be honest…"
Daki called out when she heard that. "Absolutely not! I'm not okay with you making people that lame into demons!" Gyutaro didn't even look at her.
"If you become demons you can instantly get stronger! You can get rid of those weak bodies! For good! So what do you say?! What's it gonna be?!" The two of them sat there and slowly looked up to him, Jikon stopping once his eyes were locked onto Gyutaro's. And Tanjiro kept going until he was looking at the night sky. "And there it is… the way you humans always look to the sky when you grieve, not letting tears fall down your face."
Those blue eyes looked away from his mismatched ones for just a second, he was so scared wasn't he? 'Well when you only have the option of become a demon or die it's right to be scared, huh?'
Tanjiro looked at him with a grit filled expression. "We just needed a second. A moment to act!" Tanjiro slammed his hard head into Gyutaro's and pushed him back!
'A second for a weak ass headbutt like that?!' He was smiling but then things got blurry, and he couldn't stand up. 'M- My body won't get up!'
Carmen started limping a little faster towards them. "Get up! That weak little-!" She stopped when something slugged the back of her head and nearly made her faceplant onto the ground. 'What was that?!'
Daki was the only one who could see from her vantage point. A pair of smoking pistols aimed right at the two on the ground level! "I said I'd be back, you gangly freak!"
A round went into Gyutaro's bony ribcage and amplified the numb feeling he was going through. 'Something's wrong! A headbutt and some poison from a bullet shouldn't be doing that!' His eye lingered on something glinting in his thigh. 'A kunai?! They stabbed me with a kunai?! They used the scent from that prostitute's incense and covered the smell of the poison!'
Two swords raised up over Gyutaro's head and their wielders were clenching their teeth hard for their next strikes. 'Enbu!' (Waltz). Fire was on the black sword.
'Takitsubo!' (Waterfall Basin). Water coursed around the blue sword.
'As battered as you both are from fighting with so many others- Now you're alone and you won't give the hell up!' Fire and water dropped towards his neck. 'Why are you so determined to decapitate me?!' Two swords slammed into his tough neck with battle cries from the boys so adamant on killing him!
They knew exactly why they had this much grit. Tanjiro had his method to the madness.
"Brother!" Daki's cry made the two falter and look down at the Upper Rank.
'At any bad turn… we could've been the ones getting our heads cut into like this.' Tanjiro's thoughts were so calm despite this intense situation. 'I was lucky enough to not only be a human, but to have a chance at saving Nezuko… If I ever ended up turning into a demon, I'd have to rely on someone in the Corps beheading me for the greater good!'
'Koujo became a demon because of his hard headedness, but I know for a fact that if they actually wanted to kill him off they'd have to kill me too. Right now it's not clear to me what's going on with him working for Carmen. I don't know why or what she wants, but I know one thing… I know that right now, Tanjiro and me, we can kill an Upper Rank!'
Gyutaro's hand slammed into the ground and split the earth. He strained hard and reached into his leg to pull the kunai out. Blood started gushing from his neck as the two made some progress "Haaaaaaahh!"
Daki watched the two yelling and her brother struggling, Carmen was recovered from that shot to the head so she had to react. She stepped out with a clawed foot and jumped towards them. "Tengo mucha ira por su hijos de-" Rattling pinkish gray chains wrapped around her body and yanked her away from them. "What?!"
Ami was not only alive, she was standing and covered in blood! "I don't give a damn who now! I'll kill a demon tonight!"
"No! Not by losers like these!" Daki's sashes started whipping out… and that's when the thunder struck. Zenitsu blasted out from the rubble and across so many of her belts, now in the air and still asleep. "That brat pulled himself out of the rubble? Just die already, you ugly freak!" He sped across the sashes and positioned himself upside down, a hand on his sword hilt.
"Thunder Breathing… First form!" Daki was sending more and more belts even as Zenitsu's veins started bulging across his legs and face.
"I know how fast your move is! I've seen it so many times!" She sent even more of her obi out to slice him apart. "You're not gonna catch me!"
"Thunderclap and Flash…" He grit his teeth for this one. "Godspeed!" Now he was the lightning. He was on her and his sword was cutting through that soft neck fabric like it was nothing!
'So fast! He's actually cutting through my neck now!' That yellow sword was actually making headway through her neck, and she was nothing less than shocked he could move so fast!
'Cut through! I have to cut through! My body can only handle using Godspeed twice! And I already used it once to get out of the rubble!' He was carrying her away from the fight where a struggle was still going on. 'I won't get another chance to do this, Jikon and Tanjiro already gave us a one in a million chance! I have to cut through!'
Gyutaro was slowly getting that kunai out and both Tanjiro and Jikon were struggling to keep him down! 'Damn it! The poison should've weakened him! Are we still so weak to where we can't through his neck?!'
"Tanjiro! Don't doubt yourself! We can do it!" Jikon was pushing harder and getting just millimeters further down! "We can't give up!" Gyutaro begged to differ…
"Grrraaaa!" Chaotic blood sickles started flying in all directions but their goal was to repel the two trying so hard to finish him off, and they succeeded.
'No! No no no! He pushed our swords off! We were so close! We almost had it!' Tanjiro started slashing each of the blood sickles and Jikon was joining him, their random directions needed team work to push back.
"Don't give up Tanjiro! Just hold out a little longer!" Jikon was trying to be encouraging but now Gyutaro was standing up and rushing them!
"I don't care now!" He was running and forcing them to move back fast, his sickles clashing against their swords in a fit of rage. "I don't care about that Carmen lady!" He was getting faster! "I don't care about making you demons!" He fired more blood sickles and forced the two back even more, barely stopping the lethally poisonous attacks from landing.
'He's broken down the poison! His attack speed is increasing! No! Don't give up! Jikon said just hold out!' The two were face to face with an angry Upper Rank demon… and now he was back at full health.
"I just wanna see you two GUTTED LIKE FISH!" He swung his sickles towards their eyes and the only thing they could see…
'Don't give up!'
'Tanjiro!'
死
Was Death.
"You're MINE!" A red sword and a gold edge collided with sickles of pure death. Everyone was surprised. "Dark Moon Evening Palace!" The explosion of heat and blue moon crescents pushed Gyutaro down the street and he could see two things that should've been dead!
'They aren't dead?! That doesn't make sense!' That tall hashira was alive and so was the loser who wanted his rank! 'Wait! I get it now! His heart! He stopped his heart to slow down the circulation of poison! But that doesn't explain how that Koujo guy is still standing!'
"It feels great!" Koujo went from blank and emotionless, to fully expressive. His breaths were coming out as a reflective shimmer with flames between his grin. "It was like drowning in a swamp! Trapped and tangled up in the muck! I don't know what's going on, or who these guys are! But it's a fight and I'm in it!" Koujo exploded towards Gyutaro while Tengen flipped his swords around and managed to catch them with the only hand he had.
"Mister Uzui!"
"Tengen, your arm!"
The wound where he should be massively bleeding from a missing limb was closed off and covered in dry blood. "Remind me to thank that demon Haia! My Musical Score is finished! And it'll take us to victory!" He was next to blast off towards Gyutaro.
"Don't make me laugh!" Flying blood sickles! A storm of Flying Blood Sickles!
The Musical Score was an advanced technique of Tengen Uzui's creation, by using his incredibly honed hearing he could recognize attack patterns and better respond to them!
Koujo started slashing through the blood sickles with chaotic moon crescents flying all over the street and Tengen's ears picked up on both attack variants! "Ichi!" Gyutaro watched as the, one armed, hashira sliced through a moon blade and his own blood sickle with one hand! Not to mention the rival Upper Six that was right on top of him! "San! Shichi! Go! I! Kin!" A flurry of slashes to get closer to action! "I can read it now! The symphony of your attacks together!"
Koujo's crimson sword collided with the sickles in Gyutaro's hands and another burst of moon blades pushed him back, but now he was chasing after with even more speed! 'This brat! He's fighting way different now! It's like a second nature for him to do this!' Sickles met a sword while explosions rung out behind them, getting closer.
"Tanjiro! We have to help!" Jikon started running after the action and Tanjiro was right beside him. Ami was still restraining Carmen and winding up with that claw blade of hers, this was their chance! They had to coordinate and kill Gyutaro now!
'It's amazing! They're both moving so much better!'
Tengen appeared in the air and slammed his sword into the ground where Gyutaro was, leaping back and planting against a building as another flood of crescent moons forced the hashira back.
'Musical Score? Did he listen to our attacks enough to make a song out of it so he could fight?! And he deflected those attacks with just one arm?! No… NO!' His eye contracted in fury and he shifted priority. Kill the challenger. "I've had enough of this shit!"
He leapt down with a sickle swinging hard!
"Dark Moon Evening Palace!" An explosion of blue and red threw debris all over the place, and from the cloud came two rushing demons. Their attacks were a blur, flashes of red against red and sparks into the air. Koujo moved between a slash and threw out his own, this was a difference in power that one of them had to win! Gyutaro's sickles chopped off a pair of hands and his foot reeled back-
The red haired Demon ducked under a kick, grew his hands back-! "HAH!" And he punched Gyutaro away just to catch his own blade!
The Upper Rank skidded and came to a grinding halt, a flood of Blood Sickles at full power filled the air with his pissed off swings!
Tengen was in the way and started slashing with every ounce of his might, even missing one of these now would kill him! The Sound Hashira was a perfect distraction for a streak of red to fly by him and for a malformed bastard to rush in. The demons clashed and went flying down the street. Explosions of ranged blades and wood being the only things that showed where their fight was moving.
Grunts of strain and anger were the only thing you could hear other than consistent breath from the red sword wielder. Each of their collisions was sparking their individual ranged attacks and forcing Tengen to act fast and use his Musical Score to lower the damage around them, particularly to the other Hashira and Slayer right behind him!
The demons stopped in a wrecked intersection and drew their weapons back, a sword against dual kamas… Who would win?
"Heh! Hrraahh!" (Pearl Flower Moongazing).
"Gng! Grraahh!" (Flying Blood Sickles).
Rapid attacks in quick lashes with the backlash of giant blood blades, and massive crescent shaped slashes that fired off dozens of azure moon crescents. The destruction was starting to ramp up from five to six!
"Hraaaaaahhhh!" (Loathsome Moon, Chains).
"Graaaaahhhhh!" (Raging Blood Wheels).
The strikes against one another were getting even faster! Their clash was putting the smell of iron and oppressive smoke into the air around them! Two giant slashes sent a raging flurry of moon blades out and ripped the buildings around them to shreds, and spinning blood blades flew into the air then ripped the ground and area apart in a noxious rage! The damage went from six to seven!
"HAAAAAH!" (Ripping Tide, Waxing Crescent).
"GRAAAAH!" (Rotating Circular Slashes).
Wild attacks in violent stabs and slashes tore through the air to land home, and rapid rising slashes aimed for slicing a neck clean off countered each one of them in a coordinated blitz! Frenzied, spinning blood blades crashed into the buildings around them hoping to rip the challenger apart! Rising swaths of crescent moons flew into the air and obliterated the blood blades on contact, saving the area around them for last! Seven to an eight!
"HAAAAH!" (Moon Spirit, Calamitous Eddy).
"GRAAAH!" (Spiraling Blood Swarm, Rampant Arc Rampage).
Now it was a calamity. The damage went from Eight all the way to Eleven. Giant arcs of blood and sickle slashes were eviscerating the space around them, but the skyward moon blades and repeated crescent slashes that were sending more projectiles into the sky were matching the destruction. The two weren't even hitting each other anymore! This was a competition of who's attack would be bigger and overwhelm the other!
Their fight started tearing down another street. Gyutaro's sickle slashes were colliding with the bright red blade of a much newer demon, and yet he was actually working just to land one hit!
Tengen and the others closed the distance and watched the two so focused in their clash that they were hypnotized by their rapid movements. "We have to help Hakuga's brother finish it! He's got him now but the two are evenly matched! It doesn't matter what! Just help!" Tengen dashed in as the demons collided and struggled to make any more headway on each other. Sword strikes being deflected by merciless sickles, and sickle lashes being driven off by fast sword swings.
"Uzui's right! We have to cover in for Koujo! If we can give just a second delay, he'll cut off his head!" They skid against the ground and followed the fight.
Gyutaro just lost an arm but it grew back with a sickle ready to carve! He sliced and didn't touch anything but a sword's edge, but it was a golden sword attached to a nichirin chain! Tengen swung to deflect moon blades but they sliced through his chain like it was nothing. Down to one sword. Koujo swung and lost his arm to an upwards sickle cut, but he grew it back and got his grip! The challenger Upper Rank was by Gyutaro's side and winding his sword back, angry or not. Pissed at him or not. Koujo was about to take that head clean off!
Jikon inhaled and focused on getting an advantage. 'It has to work now! He's going for it! Hekireki Issen!' (Thunderclap and Flash). He jumped and blasted himself over and behind Gyutaro with crackles of lightning following him. 'Take my chance! Cutting the arm off will let it grow back, immobilize it!' Heavy ripples of water traced the thrust and he slammed his sword into Gyutaro's left shoulder!
The Upper Rank responded by stabbing a sickle into Koujo's face and ripping out his eyes! Then he hooked it into Uzui's liver!
"Shi!" He cut that arm off and pulled his back.
"Mister Uzui!"
"DON'T STOP!" He couldn't keep up anymore! It was up to them! The last of Tengen's limited strength went into throwing his massive sword into Gyutaro's gaunt body and making him fly with Koujo swinging his sword into his neck! "GO!"
Tanjiro jumped up and decided to meet his friends halfway! 'Unfortunately! You're too damn slow!' He raised his sword-stuck arm and brought a poisonous sickle through this slug's jaw! 'They all paved the way and you can't finish it! I can still get out of this! I just have to unleash the rotating circular slashes!'
The poison… It'll kill him! 'So what?! Even if it takes my life-!' He swung that black sword down and into the other side of Gyutaro's neck! 'I'll take your head off too!'
'Damn it! I have to unleash the Circular slashes now! They couldn't do it before but with this demon brother I'll die! No- No, my sister's still fine! As long as her empty head stays on it'll be okay!' That didn't mean stop the rotating circular slashes, and he wasn't gonna!
Koujo was swinging hard enough, but they didn't need enough. They had to make sure! 'Every ounce of my strength! Summon it by force! Use everything you don't even have!' The mark on his forehead turned from a scar into a blazing fire! His hair turned red and just as flamelike as the hair! "AAAAAHHH!" His sword was going through! Halfway and it was meeting Koujo's!
"I don't need eyes to cut through your neck! I could've done this alone but I'm glad these guys helped me out!" His red blade started pushing more and more, almost like he was just dragging the fight out by not killing Gyutaro quicker!
There were still others who had their own clashes with deadly enemies! Ami was lifting her claw high and holding this lady by the battered body! "I wanted to show that skinny guy what for! But you'll have to do!" She swiped the claw into this thing's neck and she lifted her clawed hands in response.
'NO! Too vulnerable now! I can't survive losing my head in this state!' She stabbed her hand towards Ami's stomach but the girl's other hand left the chains and caught it! 'How is she this strong?!" She kicked out with her burning and bloody "foot" but all she was doing was leaving black spots against the girl's legs, none of her attempts getting high enough to do anything that mattered! "You're just a wild girl! Un fea oso!"
Ami touched through the burns like she did the poison, and at least the poison had her looking all bloody! "I don't know what that means! But I'm the Bear Queen!" She pushed harder and felt her entire body start flooding with strength she didn't have before! "Die already you monster!"
Zenitsu was still blitzing around with Daki on his sword, the last twenty seconds were hell on his legs! But he couldn't afford to stop until it was all done!
"You'll never get the chance to cut my head off! Before you do, I'll cut you to shreds!" Her sashes started to converge and Zenitsu's luck was going bad!
"Hraaagh!" Bestial slashes and Inosuke was there!
"What?! How is he here?! Big brother slashed him through the heart!"
"Don't ever underestimate the suppleness of my body!" He struck his swords against Zenitsu's and doubled their efforts, they were gonna take this belt bitch down! "Shifting some organs is child's play for me! Growing up on the mountains gave me an immunity to poison too!" The soft sash that was her neck started ripping even more and things were getting bad for the demon siblings.
"Help me big brother! Do something! Don't let them decapitate me!"
Her cries didn't mean much if he was stuck down here with his own problems! 'Damn it! I have to unleash the Vile Circular Slashes!'
"HROAAA!" Thunder. Roaring in it's power.
"HRAAAH!" Beast. Growling with ferocity.
"KRAAAA!" Stone. Crushing what gets in its way.
"HAAAAH!" Sun. Shining through the darkness.
"AAAAHH!" Water. Crashing and flowing in any path.
"GRAAAH!" Moon. Pulling it all together.
Fire burned against a neck. Lightning and Thunder collided with serrated Wind. Stone showed its durability. Water found its way. Lastly, but not least, the Moon shone through. Three slashes. Three heads. Two siblings rolled through the street and landed by each other. A body fell to the ground and two boys collapsed, near death.
A woman who was so beautiful but so ugly fell to the ground, headless. Her shocked eyes started to twitch… until she melted into red sludge.
Three women watched it all. Shocked. Surprised. Elated. "They… They did it! They did it! They did it! They really did it! Hinatsuru! Look from behind the grave! They did it!"
"Do you hear what you're saying? Stupid!"
A slap against her head and she exclaimed in pain. But then the smart one noticed something. "No! Something's not right!"
Tanjiro's body was convulsing. The poison decimating his system. All it took was one hit for him to be like this… What was Miss Shinobu doing to Jikon if he was still able to look at the slowly approaching Sound Hashira with wide eyes? Oh wait… Jikon was barely any better.
'Can't breathe! Recovery!' His ears weren't working. He couldn't even hear his own strained breath. It was all ringing. 'Use your breath to combat it!'
Jikon couldn't move. He was just as badly off even as he saw Tengen limping hastily towards them. 'Tengen… We did it. His head went right off! It's over!' He was starting to lose his sight, but even with that he could see Tengen's mouth moving and his arms reaching out.
'Tanjiro… he's saying something… I can't- Can't hear.'
'That's Mister Uzui's voice… I can't hear him but- but in front of me- us… Koujo's lifting… sword!'
The faint voice of the Sound Hashira was what Tanjiro could hear behind him. Yelling out. "-ado!" Saying something they couldn't hear. "-kuga!" He could see Koujo saying something that managed to stick out to him.
"Perpetual Night."
'What's going on? We… we cut off his head… didn't we?' Tanjiro was starting to fade out even with Uzui getting more desperate out of his sight.
"Lonely Moon."
Jikon couldn't keep his eyes open anymore even as he saw Tengen just feet away, reaching out for them. 'Tengen… I'm… so tired. I hope Shinobu doesn't get mad at me… for falling asleep on a mission.' A hand gripped onto his collar and started to pull both him and Tanjiro away.
"Incessant."
"WE HAVE TO RUUUUUNN!" Genuine fear and flight instinct at its best!
A body twitched and that's when a sword started to swing. Endless layered slashes of crescent shapes and in a beautiful array- It didn't match the chaotic swarm of moon blades that shot off in every direction with each attack. Then there were the wild and merciless blood sickle slashes flying out from the body on the ground, matching each crescent moon as it emerged. The destruction was… wrong. It was so plain wrong. There wasn't any other way to describe it. An entire District… Wiped out.
Before Uzui started his hobbling towards the boys, he was on one knee and barely keeping his own breath together. "They did it…" Then his ears picked it all up. "What?!" He could see some rotating blood around Gyutaro's severed neck and Koujo raising that sword wasn't a good sign either. He got up and tried to get there. He tried to get them out of there! He grabbed Kamado and Hakuga was next, trying to rush them to get up! Then it all went. There was nowhere for it to go. Right or well didn't exist at that moment so there was no wrong, it just went.
He screamed at them, but it was too late. Those layered slashes mixed with those blood blades made everything go dark. He tried his best to save them, like a Hashira should. He failed. Everything was ripped apart from the attacks. It was all blasted into the air and- And a certain box opened up to reveal a girl with clenched her hands and let bright pink flames wash over everything!
"Hmmph! Hmm!"
Those Bonds
Something was patting him. Something gentle. Tanjiro opened his eyes and looked around. His younger sister's adorable face being the first thing he saw. "Nezuko." He couldn't speak up. Didn't even have the strength to raise his voice. "Everything's gone… What- Nezuko… You saved me." He pet her head softly and she nuzzled into his touch. "The others!" He tried to stand up but his legs collapsed under his own weight. "Can't move! Wait… how am I alive? I was poisoned."
"Tanjirooo!" That was Zenitsu! "Tanjirooo! Jikooon!"
Rustling nearby and they could see a blue haori sticking out of the ashes. "Head… hurts…"
"Jikon!" He couldn't even take a step towards his friend. That's when Nezuko helped and got her big brother onto her back. She ran to the injured Hashira and they looked him over.
"That's me… Left leg broken. Right ankle is almost shattered. But there's no poison in my- AMI AND INOSUKE!" Oh. OH NO! Nezuko quickly found Ami nearby and-
"What do we do?! There's nothing we have to neutralize the poison! We don't have time to send a crow! We can't let anyone die!"
Her brother's pleas were answered and Nezuko lifted a hand over Ami… Then pink flames surrounded the girl and her violently purple skin went back to its normal hue. "AGH! What happened?!" She had a lot of energy and jumped up quick, only to see Jikon still on the ground. "What's up with Pikkon? Where's Inosuke?!" She hurried and grabbed the Hashira and looked to see the Kamado siblings hurrying off. "Hey wait up!"
Nezuko and Tanjiro hurried off towards Zenitsu and by extension the one who was near him last. "Tanjirooo! Help! My legs are broken and my whole body hurts!"
"Zenitsu! Where's Inosuke?!" The hysterical boy actually calmed down enough and managed to point over with tears and snot running down his face.
"You have to hurry! His heart's getting weaker by the second!"
The Kamado siblings hurried up to the boar head and Nezuko planted a hand on his chest, sending pink fire all over his body. The purple flesh going back to its healthy color. "AH! When are we gonna eat?! I'm starving!"
"Inosuke!" Then it was a dog pile of a bear girl, a Hashira, and the Kamado siblings.
"Get off! You're all heavy! And you're being weird!" They all couldn't help crying. He survived being stabbed through the chest after all.
"WAAHHH! You can't die here! Please don't die, Lord Tengen!" He was still poisoned. "The antidote isn't working! How do we deal with demon poison?! This isn't fair god!" The three women were in different states of this. Suma being the loudest and most hysterical.
"Please listen close… I have some final words. My life, up to this very second."
"If you let Lord Tengen die, I'll never pray to you again! I won't forgive you, you hear me?!"
Makio couldn't take the annoying woman anymore! "Would you shut up?! Lord Tengen is giving us his final words! I'll shove rocks in your mouth!"
"You both need to quiet down!" Hinatsuru was being the voice of reason, but it wasn't helping.
"WAAAHH! I can't if Makio keeps bullying me like this!" She as barely holding the rocks away from her mouth and now Tengen was just wide eyed… single eyed in disbelief.
'You're joking… I'm really gonna die without saying my final words. The poison's making my tongue go numb. I can't speak.'
"YOU REALLY PUT THE ROCKS IN MY MOUTH! STOP-! ACK-!"
"SHUT UP!"
'This sucks…'
A small girl popped up beside them. Hand raised. Everyone looked at her as she put that hand into Tengen. Then set him the fuck on fire.
"WHA!"
"…!"
"AAHH!" Surprisingly. Suma was the one who sprung up and pushed Nezuko off. "What do you think you're doing? Who even are you?! It's too early to cremate him! He's not dead! Your older sister's really mad at you! I'll spank you if I have to!"
Tengen sat up and rolled the nonexistent arm on his shoulder. "Hold on a second…" His wives looked at him. "What's going on here? The poison! It's out of me!"
"Lord Tengen!" Three crying women jumped onto him and started crying even harder. Happy that he was alive at all.
"I'm sorry you three… I shouldn't have made you worry."
Tanjiro patted his sister's head. "Nezuko's blood demon art, it burned away the poison. I don't know how it works but… Take it easy."
"But- How did this even happen? And wait a second, you need to rest too. Look at you!"
Not happening. "I have to find the demon's heads. And if I can, I have to find Koujo."
"We." Ami was carrying Jikon piggyback and he was smiling despite his condition. His blue haori with those beautiful grey clouds was gone. No wonder. Haia was right behind them in her normal, small body. She was wearing the haori to cover her- Oh… all her clothes were shredded, right.
"We're gonna find Koujo. With that Carmen lady dead, he'll come right back!"
Nezuko was leading the charge with her brother on her back. Ami was right behind taking her slow steps with Jikon comfortably on her. Haia was keeping up in a light jog. "Nezuko, go that way!" Tanjiro gave the directions and his sister went towards it. "Demon blood, a pool of it."
"There's nothing around, we can collect it." Jikon watched Tanjiro carefully use the syringe scalpel and collect some of that blood.
"We actually collected the blood of an Upper Rank demon!" The ever familiar meow of Chachamaru and they sent the blood off without a hitch. "Okay, now we just need to-"
"FUCK THIS HURTS!" Who was that? They all headed towards the voice and saw a boy, around their age. He was pinned under some debris and straining to get it off. "Huh? Hey! You're Demon Slayers! Help me out here!" Ami was quick to lift the wreckage off and he managed to pull himself out and onto wobbly feet. "Damn! I owe you guys one!"
"Actually, we're even. Your bullets are what helped pin Gyutaro down." Jikon said as his head swiveled towards that familiar smell.
"Who-ta-what?"
Tanjiro pointed towards the scent and slowly wanted them to advance. "Everyone, lower your voices." The gang went off and Hotaru watched them, and since they helped him he might as well follow behind.
"You really got beheaded by some amateurs like them!"
"So you were watching after all?! Why didn't you save me then?!"
"I was fighting two Hashira! And this bastard who just took our spot!"
A third voice cut in. "I could have done it alone."
"Shut up! And the kid with those earrings was in the way too! I thought to kill him and the younger Hashira!" Gyutaro's head was in a fierce argument with his sister's head. "You weren't doing a damn thing to help out! You could've been the one to finish the Hashira!"
"Well you could've controlled me so I could've done that! But you went and let your guard down as usual!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Jikon and Tanjiro locked their eyes onto two separate things. One focused on the heads on the ground and the other was focusing on the standing demon in red… then he flicked his hand out to stop a nambu pistol from shooting.
"Hey what's wrong with you? He's wide open."
"That's my brother. As a Hashira, I'm ordering you not to shoot." Now Hotaru saw the golden pins and he bit his tongue before he could automatically call this guy insane.
"They're arguing? Why? They're already gonna die. They're turning to ash too." Ami pointed out as the argument stopped for a second.
"A hideous person like you… couldn't ever be my brother! Look at you!" Even as tears fell from her face, she said that with hatred. "I bet we aren't even related by blood! Not with how ugly you are! The one thing you ever had was your strength, and if you lose you're worthless! Now you're just a worthless ugly freak!"
Gyutaro was gasping and now a pair of hands picked their heads up, but they didn't even register that they weren't on the ground now. "Don't you give me that crap! Without me you'd be dead by now! How many times have I had to save you?!" He took a few labored breaths. "You're the useless one and you know it, too weak to stand alone. I wasted my whole life protecting someone as useless as you… If it wasn't for you I could've done something with my life!" Daki was silent. Listening. Slowly crumbling away.
Jikon started slipping. Off Ami's back and his wobbly legs. Tanjiro got off Nezuko's back and started hurrying to them. He couldn't bear to hear this.
"Maybe I wouldn't be dying! If I didn't waste time cleaning up after your messes! You shouldn't have even been bor-" Two hands clamped over his mouth. Jikon and Tanjiro were stopping those words from leaving his mouth.
"Don't say that… Even if you think you mean it."
"You two don't have anyone but each other. Think about it. The people you've eaten, killed, tormented. They'd never forgive you for it. Please… don't curse each other out like this. Nobody else will be on your side." Tanjiro started to cry at his own words. The meaning fully sunk in his head. Gyutaro could only stare at the three boys who collectively held his head, and silently listen as his sister started to wail and cry.
"Why- Why don't you mind your own damn business?! What gives you the right to sit and lecture us?! Brats like you don't know anything!"
Jikon coughed. "We're both brothers… no. We're all brothers. Gyutaro, you want to protect your sister more than anything. Tanjiro would die to protect his…" Jikon smiled and started letting a few tears fall, but they weren't sad. Not at all. "And I know my brother would do anything to protect me!"
Daki just started to choke on her words as her head started disappearing. Then Koujo pressed his nails into what little flesh remained.
"I can't believe this is happening! I don't wanna die yet! I don't wanna! Brother! Please do something!" Gyutaro's eyes widened with brotherly instinct as he heard that cry. "Help me brother! Help me broth-" Her head was gone.
"Ume!" He stopped. 'Wait… her name was never Daki. It was Ume. Daki's a godawful name.'
"Although, Ume was a shit name too. Since it was the name of the illness that took our mother."
Squalor. Filth. Wretched odor.
"Rashomon riverbank. The lowest ring of the Entertainment District where we were born."
"A disgusting place. Filthy and gross."
"My body… weak like a withered leaf. But I clung for life. Worm. Moron. Cretin. Coward. Good for nothing. Deadweight! Mocked for my ugly appearance and voice, sometimes they'd throw rocks at me for it. It felt like every insult was made to scar me. I wasn't just hideous, I was covered in grime from head to toe. The smell of death lingered on me."
There was a change then. Eating mice and insects when he was hungry. All he had was a sickle that a customer left behind.
Ume was born. That was the change. His pride and joy was her near unnatural beauty.
"I found out that I was good at fighting, and I turned to being a debt collector. I revolted everyone but they feared me too… My ugliness turned to pride. And with such a gorgeous sister, the inferiority was washed off too."
"Wishful thinking."
"Then she turned thirteen… She stabbed a customer in the eye with a hairpin in self defense. It got found out that he was a samurai, then her hands and feet were bound. And then they burned her alive."
"I wasn't there and by the time I got home… she was burnt to a crisp."
He raged. Taking the one thing he had after so long of going without anything. He cursed every god that would listen. None of them safe from his rage! Then that annoying samurai struck him from behind. And that old bitch started talking bad about everything he cared for.
The samurai said he'd finish him off… But first Gyutaro struck that old bitch with a slice that was for the kill.
"He had a fine kimono… clean and with smooth skin. Living comfortably, food, a nice clean bed. That's all guys like him would know… Good for him. Good for him!"
Guys like that had no right to ever complain. It was laughable how easy he killed him. One strike right for the kill and even a samurai went down.
"Nobody wanted to help us. We were neglected and denied any mercy… why? Even as the snow fell. Fortune and Misfortune being intertwined. So unfair!"
Then that tall blonde guy showed up right on time. He was Upper Six at the time. Telling us to treasure life and enjoy things. He was strong.
"He gave us some blood. And… I don't regret becoming a demon at all… No matter how many times I get reborn, I'd become a demon every time. No matter what it takes, I'll get vengeance on everyone with a better life! But… I do regret one thing. Ume. If I never dragged her into my way of life, who knows what could've happened?"
"Who cares?"
"Huh? I care… That's my sister! She's impressionable. I raised her. Take before taken from, that's why she stabbed that samurai. But she could've made such a better life if I-"
"Doesn't matter."
The bright memories were gone and now he was standing in front of that red haired one, looking down on him cause of the low difference in height.
"Is this hell?"
He turned around and saw her.
"Brother? Is that you?! I don't know where we are- I wanna go home!" She looked… normal.
"Why… Why are you in a place like this?" He decided to just walk towards the red haired one… and his sword.
"Is the exit that way?"
He stopped and clenched his fists. "Ume. You don't have to follow me anymore."
"What do you mean? Of course I do! You're-"
"DON'T FOLLOW ME!"
She froze and he started walking towards that enticing sword.
"Are you mad at what I said?! I promise I didn't mean any of it! I was mad! I was mad we lost! I didn't want to admit it was all my fault! It's my fault! I'm sorry I didn't fight good enough! I'm sorry I'm always holding you back! I don't think you're ugly! I don't think you're useless! Please forgive me!"
Light was shining on her back as she faced him. And where he was looking… there were flames behind the red hair and that red sword.
"From now on, you aren't my sister anymore. You're nothing to me. We have separate ways to go, you should go towards the light."
Footsteps and then she jumped onto him.
"No! I won't let you go! We're always going to be together! No matter what life we get reborn into, I'll always be your sister! No matter what! Please don't leave me! I'll never forgive you if you leave me behind!"
He was dead silent. Listening to her words. His sharp teeth were hidden by his lips now. He couldn't even bother trying to shake her off.
"You promised never to leave me behind! Don't you remember?!"
He… he did. He promised that no matter what he wouldn't abandon her. He swore they'd always be together. That nothing would ever separate them. Not then. Not now. Together they were unshakable.
Well. He held her legs and decided that those flames would be braved together. Even as her tears fell and her body shook from crying. Gyutaro walked towards their death.
"Okay… Come on then, what are you waiting for Koujo? You're here to kill us and all. Don't make me and… my sister wait."
"…"
His eyes had a fire behind them, but it was starting to go out. However it was there long enough to make his choice.
"Come on. We don't have all eternity just to wait."
"You're right. I'm the new Upper Rank Six after all."
He moved in a blur. And it was fine by them. They made up so now they were ready for whatever was waiting on the other side.
"Koujo… You're back! You're actually back now! Carmen's dead!" Jikon struggled to even take a step forward but he would try his damndest if it meant getting closer to his only brother… Then again considering what his dad did with Daki- "Nope get that out of my head, Koujo!"
Red eyes turned towards them and… He. He stared. Almost blank. Still something behind them but it was… Muted. His eyebrow raised as the blood on his hands sank into his skin. "Do I… Know you?"
…
…
…
…
No… Carmen was dead. Whatever mind control she had should be gone! There wasn't any reason for him to still be this way! This wasn't right! It wasn't right! "Koujo… You don't remember Jikon? Your own brother?" Tanjiro was in just as much disbelief. This didn't make any sense at all! If that woman was really controlling him- No, there was no if! She said 'Fight' and he fought!
"I have… a brother?"
Why? Why couldn't they catch a break? Okay wait. Whatever it was, there was probably a way to fix it. Urokodaki! He was able to make Nezuko think humans were all her family! There had to be something he could-
"I have to go. Andrea wants me to come back, he's mad that Carmen failed."
"Wait!" Nope. A flash of red and he was gone. Somehow even faster than he was ever before. Haia was the one to call out but there he was. Gone without a trace. "He got away again… But this time we were all here!" A hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up to see Ami grinning.
"Hey! We know he's still okay, and he helped us beat the Upper guy!"
Tanjiro didn't know how to say what he wanted to say but the sigh from the guy with pistols was about to help. "Didn't he have the kanji for Upper Six on his eyes?"
A powerful slap on his back and Hotaru had to strain not to fall over from Ami's crazy strength. "Better someone we know right? I think that this'll all work out… just…" She held her stomach and started looking greenish. Wait a minute.
"Get back, back up!" Jikon was first to move and pulled the ones he cared about back. Hotaru was left out and Tanjiro… he'd make do. Then Ami threw up and collapsed to the ground holding her stomach. "We should get back to the medical wing."
…
…
"Hm? I see… Upper Moon Six." A white snake slithered around his neck. "Unfortunately that would be the lowest of the Upper Ranks, but six or not you defeated an Upper Rank… even though it was only six."
"You can quit trying to make me think I'm weak, I'm the first Hashira of this generation to have anything to do with beating an Upper Moon." His wives were scowling at the annoying Snake Hashira.
"Upper Moon Six but yes."
"Y'know you can stop pointing out that it was Upper Six. How many Upper Moons have you beaten so far?"
Suma pointed accusingly. "You showed up after all the fighting! And you're trying to call him weak?!"
Kaburamaru hissed and Suma retreated back to her husband and wives. "Scary!"
"Regardless, what do you intend on doing? You don't have a right eye or a left arm. How long will you take to return to duty? You'll need a replacement." Obanai was clear and concise about what was to be expected.
"Nope. I'm retiring, look at me. I can't fight anymore. I'm sure the Master will understand."
Obanai didn't. "I don't allow that. Too many young swordsmen don't get to reach their peak because of things like this, and just because that Hakuga brat is filling Rengoku's spot doesn't mean that we can go and lose another Hashira. You'll fight until your last breath, your present condition is enough. Fight until you perish."
Tengen smiled with so much cockiness even as his wives fought in front of him. "Actually, I've got a perfect first idea. For a replacement I mean. Remember the boy with the demon sister? The one you love hating?"
Obanai thought about that for a second then his eyes widened. "What? You're telling me that he survived a battle like this? The entire district is gone. Tanjiro Kamado survived?"
Kagaya Oyakata was bedridden from his illness now, but he still sat up over the news. It was exciting! Thrilling! "You're serious? This is the change in fate we needed! It took a century for things to change and it actually happened now! This is a sign! Fate is going to change-" He stopped to have a coughing fit and hack up blood painfully. "Even if it's small ripples now, they'll turn to waves! And even he will end up feeling them. Muzan Kibutsuji… This is the generation. This is where we'll finally kill you, and clear this stain of my family's name!"
His wife ushered their children on to boil water and get his medicine. He ranted through the coughing fit and now he really was letting it go. But it was such a cause for celebration!
"Ami Kumagai. Inosuke Hashibira. Jikon Hakuga. Tanjiro Kamado. Nezuko. Haia! Even… Koujo Itadake. Regardless of these conflicting events pushing us all apart, at least in times like these things can truly go well!"
His eyes opened and he saw that it was this ever expanding fortress. 'The ultimate dimension. The Infinity Castle.' Akaza was upside down and Yuki was right by his side.
"Lord Akaza, if we were summoned here then it could only mean one thing…"
His eyes widened and a pang of hope shot through his chest.
"They managed to kill an Upper Rank!"
"Man this really hurts!" Tengen needed his wives to help him out but the alternative of dying was much less enjoyable.
"Lord Tengen! I'm so happy you're really okay!" Suma was still excitable.
"No kidding. We were so worried." Makio was concerned too.
"And hey, all four of us are going back intact." Hinatsuru was still calm.
Tengen nodded and looked at the stump of his shoulder but hey, an arm over a life. "Yeah, now let's go home. In a flashy way!"
Zenitsu was crying hard, right in Tanjiro's arm. "We're all alive!" Nezuko was right in her brother's lap, partly holding the blubbering Zenitsu up.
Inosuke was still having trouble talking but he was hugging onto Ami tight. Still doubting his own survival at this point. "Yeah… We did it."
She might've looked relatively well off, but the blood caked on her skin was still mostly hers, not Gyutaro's sickles. "Y-Yeah. And I feel better already!"
"I don't know you guys… But I'm glad we're all alive." Hotaru was sitting just a few feet away, but he was glad to have survived.
Haia looked wistful, but all her friends were alive. That's the best it could've gone. "We made it."
Jikon was using his sword to sit up straight with a smile on his aching face, the blood from his split cheek and his still broken wrist not bothering him at all. "It got dirty a couple times… We gotta train even harder now huh?"
Tanjiro was crying just as much as Zenitsu, happy that everyone actually made it. "We did it! And we all lived to see it too!"
The beating of an Upper Rank Demon… Even if they died tomorrow, that wouldn't be forgotten. Not now, and not anytime soon in Corps history.
TO BE CONTIN-
SIKE YOU THOUGHT I WAS UFOTABLE?
Upper Moon Meeting
He looked around hoping like hell that it was either that disgusting potted bastard- No. He'd jump for joy if it was the rainbow eyed one. That would make him so happy that he'd cry out and sing to the entire country! His finely tuned senses on the other hand told him right off the bat, neither of the things he wanted were true.
The strum of a biwa and a shuffling of a pot. "Hyo~" The pot started speaking. "Well well Lord Akaza, how've you been…" A demented man with small hands hanging around his neck and two mouths with bulbous lips where his eyes should be emerged from the pot, and in the middle of his forehead and normal mouth there were eyes with the markings for "Upper Rank Five" on them.
"These last ninety years?" Upper Moon Five, Gyokko. "The mere thought of you dying made my heart leap wit- I mean, made my heart cringe in pain." He started laughing to himself as Akaza stared at him balefully.
Then there was a sloshing of fluid and beside that gross pot, a puddle of black ink started to grow. "Of course we missed Lord Akaza and Lady Yuki, master Gyokko." A male figure with a face obscured by a dark hood rose from the ink and with a part of his dark brown kimono, he revealed that one of his eyes was right in the middle of his chest. The one that read "Eclipse" to be exact. Eclipse Five, Kinmachi.
A cowardly voice called out to them all, quivering behind a staircase and looking at them with a large head and horns. Despite the wicked look of this one, he was anything but assertive. "It's terrifying, Gyokko has forgotten how to count during our long absence." His eyes read "Upper Rank Four" and he was the cowardly Hantengu. It's been one hundred and thirteen years since we were all called here… an unlucky number! An indivisible number!"
Right beside the cowardly Upper Rank was a man of medium build in a monk's attire. Half his chest was exposed by his orange robes. There wasn't anything abnormal about him other than his head with scales at the top of it instead of hair. "Please Lord Hantengu, show some willpower." The kanji for "Eclipse Four" was across his eyes. This was Shuradai.
Akaza looked up towards the biwa player and decided to get this over with if he could. "Biwa woman. Is Lord Muzan here yet?"
She strummed her instrument before she answered him. "He has not arrived yet."
"Then where's Upper Moon One? No way he'd get killed."
"Woah woah! Hold on Lord Akaza~ You didn't forget about me did you?" A very unwelcome hand put itself on his shoulder and dragged an annoying voice towards him. Clad in a red shirt with black droplets ending the sleeves. "I was really worried about all of you! I don't want aaaanyone to end up waning out!"
Gyokko looked excited now. "Oh hyo hyo! Lord Douma!"
"Hey! Hey! Long time no see, Gyokko!" He waved at the freaky fish pot man. "Is that a new pot? It's so pretty!" The kanji for "Upper Rank Two" Proudly on his eyes. Douma.
"Wow wow! I've missed everyone so much! Yuki! My best friend!" That shrine maiden girl clung onto the woman with her fists out and her arms started bulging with veins. "How have you been? We haven't had a chance to train in months!" That was "Eclipse Two" or Namika Busujima.
"Oh Namika! Lord Akaza and Lady Yuki have been busy you know, they can't spend all their time lounging around here-"
"Arm…" Douma looked at his best buddy with a curious smile. "Move the arm." Akaza didn't wait for him to budge. He blew part of Douma's jaw away with a fist and got the arm off him by himself.
"Woah…" Douma had his jaw back and Hantengu cowered away from the conflict. "Nice punch! Did you get a little stronger since we last met?"
Nakime strummed her biwa. "Upper Moon One was first to arrive. He has been here the entire time." Over in a calm walkway, he was kneeling with a woman in a monochrome yukata with equally monochrome flowers fretting over his long ponytail.
"I… Am here."
She exhaled as she fixed his hair. "We have been here."
"What have we got here?" That was a woman's smooth voice, and elegant way of speaking. "Everyone gathered in one place? I would assume it isn't for something mundane." A lady in a long scarlet kimono that ended in orange with floral decorations on it was standing there with a fan, lightly waving it towards herself. Her kimono was exposing her cleavage and under it was an elegantly designed, dark red qipao… That also exposed her ample bust. She had six hairpins in and her locks flowed down to her waist. "What could Master Muzan need of us?" No markings on her eyes but she was relatively important in this hierarchy.
Douma was first to try and get closer to her. "Oh Lady Ayaka! It's been so long since we-" He stopped once he saw the look on her face promising that she'd do more to him than just take his jaw off. "Oh you'll warm up to me eventually~" Douma looked at the wall behind Ayaka and saw something very new. "Oh it's you!"
Ayaka turned around with curiosity in her gaze. "Now who would that be?"
He went from being on that wall, standing on it like gravity wasn't an issue, to being right beside Douma.
Now Douma was looking sad. "Oh no! Gyutaro and Daki are gone? And here I was the one who brought them in in the first place." Now all the Upper Moons were looking at him.
"I'm Upper Moon Six." He sounded… almost bored. Like he didn't have any real feelings. And that wasn't acceptable.
Gyokko and Kinmachi approached the newcomer and decided to lay some things down. "Now now, you don't sound very happy about that. I know if I were you, I'd be leaping for joy at becoming Upper Moon Six." Kinmachi was still halfway in that puddle of ink… and it somehow moved with him.
"Hyo Ho! My apprentice is correct! Being in the Upper Ranks of the Twelve Demon Moons is no light matter, it's a privelage that you should-"
"Stop talking to me." Hantengu cowered behind the stair rail and Shuradai didn't stop his prayer. Akaza and Yuki looked surprised. Douma and Namika were still smiling but if you looked close, you could see that they wanted to know what was going to happen next. Kokushibou and Katachi didn't bother looking over, this petty situation below them. Ayaka hid her face behind her fan and held back her soft laughter, she never really liked Gyokko.
"What was that? Ah the young and inexperienced, mocking the old and brilliant. Believing that just because you made it to the bottom position of the Twelve Kizuki, you've managed to find your place." His wispy form got closer and closer to the much younger demon and those creepy eye-mouths smiled. "It's just the beginning to be at the bottom, Gyutaro was there for over a century and he was skilled."
"You being here at all is a blessing from Lord Muzan himself." Kinmachi might've been smiling under that hood, or he was scowling hard. You couldn't tell. "Don't look that blessing in the mouth by rocking the boat your first day."
The new Upper Moon Six just grabbed his hand and started to pull… slowly and strangely. First a hilt with flame like patterns, then a circular guard. Finally, a sword made from warped flesh and bone started to emerge until the tip of the blade touched the free air. Gyokko and Kinmachi looked dissatisfied at this.
"Oh, you're showing off your abilities? Well you wouldn't know this but-" It got hot. Flames burst into the air and the newest Upper Moon went from where he was to standing beside a foreign man who was slowly clapping his hands together… Not to mention that Gyokko and Kinmachi were separated from their heads.
"Well done! Buen trabajo mi joven amigo." A man who dressed almost as smartly as their Lord was standing there and happily applauding this boy's actions.
"How dare you?! There was no challenge for a blood battle or anything of the sort! Once I reattach my head I'll-!"
"Lord Muzan… Has arrived." Kokushibou's voice spoke clearly and all the Kizuki, that weren't holding a flesh sword, looked up to see Muzan experimenting with some mixtures.
The Lion among men was calmly making his mixtures and not even sparing a glance down and the Upper Ranks and their bodyguards. "Gyutaro is dead. This is the newest Upper Moon Six, Koujo."
The others looked back at the teenage demon holding his newly made sword in his right hand. Not looking at any of them, not even the one who was applauding him.
"Oh really? Well I'm very sorry about that, I brought them on and all. If there's any punishment in mind I'll certainly-"
Muzan didn't let Douma finish. "I don't care. I expected Gyutaro to lose with Daki holding him back. I even made sure to warn her that the position was subject to change and she did nothing with that information."
Douma laughed and waved that off. "Oh you're just being negative again Lord Muzan! When have we never lived up to your expectations?"
"The Demon Slayer Corps still exists." That's one. "The Ubuyashiki family still exists." Okay that was two. "I've yet to acquire the blue spider lily." And three. "Honestly wondering why most of you are around…"
They all looked disappointed in their own ways. With themselves and their actions of course. Hantengu dropped to the floor and pleaded for forgiveness while most others were quiet.
Katachi and Kokushibou looked like they wish there was something they could add. "We have… nothing to say… Ubuyashiki has… Cleverly hid himself."
Douma and Namika looked constipated if anything. "What can we say? We aren't very good at detective work."
Gyokko's newly attached head started making its mouths move. "Lord Muzan! I'm not like them! I have useful information for you! Things that can set you a step closer to your dreams! Just minutes ago-"
"I hate change…" Gyokko's head was in Muzan's hand. "It's a degradation. A decline. Change only occurs because something was in an imperfect state. Nothing perfect can change. Even though there's a new Upper Moon, that doesn't still mean an Upper Moon wasn't killed to clear the position." He dropped the head back down to the relative floor. "Don't give me information if you haven't even confirmed it yet."
There were still a few questions. Who was the foreign man? "That's the one keeping Koujo under control now. The harlot failed and lost her head, so now he's maintaining him." Muzan was unabashed and mixing those chemicals again.
Ayaka was wondering how this new Upper Moon Six was just able to completely bypass Gyokko's reflexes even when he took his time getting a weapon ready. 'Then again, if I'm capable of existing and not being an Upper Moon myself… It's entirely possible. However, he is not me."
"Gyokko, if you can confirm your information then head over there with Hanten-"
"Muzan…" All eyes went onto the red hair that forgot a very important honorific before that name. "How do I become… Upper Moon Four?" He looked straight at the Demon King, unflinching. Andrea didn't look surprised by this either.
They were all waiting. Just waiting for him to get slaughtered where he stood. "You would have to challenge Hantengu and Shuradai to a blood battle."
Koujo looked at the two of them and pointed that flesh sword their way. "I challenge the two of you to a blood battle." The disrespect was making Gyokko bristle but he was already in hot enough water as it was.
Shuradai decided to be the voice of reason while Hantengu cowered behind a rail that didn't hide him at all. "Apologies young Koujo, but you can't challenge us without your own Eclipse. A blood battle is also a trial to know if your Eclipse can move up with you or if they will have to remain at that spot. Until you find one you can't-" Pink belts lashed out of Koujo's back and spread into the air. Flesh melding and bones warping, those sounds filled the air as a figure emerged with white skin and hair, ending in a green tint like a leafy vegetable.
"I'm right here, his Eclipse." Daki- No. Ume was on his back and he just stabbed that flesh blade into the ground to grab the hilt of his own. "We'll take that spot from you no problem." She was oddly calm. Usually so bratty but now she was actually acting like she was over a century old.
'That annoying brat might have actually started to learn her role, and is taking the initiative to be more responsible?' Let it be known, Ayaka hated Daki and her annoying ways more than almost anything.
"One month. We can have our blood battle in one month." Koujo exposed the blade of his sword and said nothing else. The point was clear about what his weapon of choice would be.
Muzan didn't even waste a second looking down at them. "Very well. In one month's time there will be a blood battle between the positions of Upper Moon Six and Upper Moon Four. Gyokko, you will take whoever loses to this information of yours when you've confirmed it."
"Yes Lord Muzan!"
With a strum of the biwa, Gyokko and Kinmachi were gone. Douma was disappointed since he wanted to ask and maybe tag along but there would be next time. "So, you're the new Upper-" Another strum of the biwa and both Douma and Namika were transported onto a fluffy cushion. "They're no fun."
"I'm still here Lord Douma!" Namika flopped across his lap and she started playing with her long pink hair, getting a laugh out of her superior.
Back in the fortress Hantengu and Shuradai just got strummed away to who knows where and that left only some of them. Akaza and Yuki stared at an unflinching Koujo and Ume. "Something about you is familiar. I don't know what." Then Akaza looked at Andrea. "And you're just all wrong, stay out of my way and I won't kill you. Understand?"
Andrea just grinned at them. "If you think you can, go for it. But unlike your friend Douma… I won't sit still and be hit." His aura changed from friendly to pressuring and Akaza would be lying if he said the prospect of a fight didn't excite him, but for now he let it go and leapt away into the deeper parts of the fortress.
Yuki stared at Andrea's threatening form and squinted at him. "I don't like you. And if you ever try to hurt Lord Akaza, I'll pummel you to hell myself." She leapt off right after him and Andrea just shrugged his shoulders.
"Some people."
"Koujo." Muzan called out. "Where would you like to reign over? Much like how the Hashira patrol districts, you as an Upper Moon have a designated area of your own. Where would you like to go?"
He was silent. The murk of his mind slowly lifting as he opened his mouth to answer. His response surprised Muzan but he didn't hesitate. "Very well, Nakime." She strummed her biwa and both Koujo and Ume vanished. Another strum and Muzan was gone and so was his little lab.
Ayaka was just thinking about how that new Upper Moon casually could've killed Gyokko and his Eclipse, then challenged someone two spots above him to a blood battle. "Things are definitely getting strange. It's confusing to think about but that's not my place. Nakime, please send me back to my hideaway." A strum and she was gone. Hideaway was a very loose term since she lived in a manor with constant protection due to the many guards that saw her as the important woman she is.
Now Kokushibou was sitting there with Katachi still adjusting his hair, as she had been the entire meeting. "Yes, I still have my personal thoughts on the matter. No, you wouldn't understand without knowing what I know." He didn't give her a chance to beat that dead horse.
"I still want to know, what is it that you can see?" Sometimes silence speaks volumes and is so blaring that it could even kill. Silence is dangerous because it leaves one guessing, and the mind is a powerful place if left alone. But he decided to indulge her with an answer after just ten long seconds of thought.
"Change."
A/N: See at first I wanted to leave on a cliffhanger... then I remembered how beyond pissed I was that they did that, so I didn't. See ya next time!